0815 HRS.

18th June, 2013

THE HEADLINES:

• Eight new ministers inducted into the Union Council of Ministers.
•  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says, people will repose faith in the UPA government for a third term.
• TRAI announces reduction in mobile roaming charges; says no free national roaming as of now.
•  Heavy rain lashes North India killing more than 50; Rescue operations in full swing.
•  Sri Lanka advances to the knock out stage beating Australia by 20 runs; To meet India in the semi finals.

<><><>

The Union Council of Ministers has been expanded with the induction of four Cabinet Ministers and four Ministers of State, MoS. The Ministers who were inducted as Cabinet Ministers are Sisram Ola, Oscar Fernandes, Girija Vyas and Dr K S Rao. Mr. Fernandes has been given the charge of the Road Transport and Highways Ministry, Girija Vyas has got Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Sis Ram Ola, Labour and Employment Ministry and K. S. Rao, the Textiles Ministry. Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge will be the new Minister for Railways.

Manikrao Gavit has been made Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Santosh Chowdhury, MoS Health and Family Welfare, Jesudasu Seelam, MoS Finance and  E M S Natchiappan, MoS Commerce and Industry. The newly inducted Ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee  at a function in Rashtrapati Bhawan last evening.

Our correspondent reports, the expansion-cum-reshuffle of the Council of Ministers was necessitated by the exit of the DMK Ministers as well as the resignation of Pawan Kumar Bansal, Ashwani Kumar, Ajay Maken and Dr. C P Joshi.

                                       <><><>

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has said, the people will repose their faith in the UPA government and the UPA will once again form the government  for the third time. He was talking to reporters after the cabinet reshuffle in New Delhi. Replying to a question on the possibility of a Congress- JD(U) alliance, Dr. Singh said that in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies and a decision is taken as the situation evolves. He also termed the Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar as a secular leader.

Replying to a media query on the Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister said, he is a natural leader of the Congress. He said, he will be very happy to see Mr. Gandhi step into his shoes.

Dr. Singh also said that the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi is no threat to the UPA as people know what he stands for.

<><><>

The BJP has called a state wide bandh in Bihar today, protesting against the JD(U)'s decision to snap its 17-year old alliance with the saffron party. JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had announced the break-up of the alliance at a press conference in Patna on Sunday, exactly a week after Narendra Modi was made the BJP's Campaign Committee Chairman.

After his usual weekly Janta Darbar, Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar yesterday said, it is difficult to work with the BJP's new era leaders. Rejecting the BJP's allegation that he was responsible for the split in the NDA, Nitish Kumar accused the saffron party of betraying the JD(U) and ignoring its senior leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani. An angry BJP has decided to expose the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on double speak over Narendra Modi.

 Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will seek a vote of confidence at a special session of the State Assembly tomorrow.

<><><>

 The Telecom regulator, TRAI has announced a reduction in national mobile phone roaming charges, but said, there will be no free national roaming as of now. TRAI Chairman Rahul Khullar said that the Telecom regulator has mandated two types of free national roaming plans to be provided by all telecom service providers.

To self-select customers, who are roamers, the authority had mandated that all telecom providers will provide atleast two roaming tariff plans. In one roaming tariff plan, incoming calls will not be free but will be capped at 75 paise per minute. In the second tariff plan, incoming calls will be free but on payment of a fixed charge.

The ceiling tariffs have been reduced from 1 rupee 40 paise to 1 rupee per minute for local calls and from 2 rupees 40 paise to 1 rupee 50 paise for outgoing STD calls while on national roaming.

 Similarly, the ceiling tariffs for incoming calls while on national roaming have been reduced from 1 rupee 75 paise per minute to 75 paise per minute. These changes will come into effect from 1st July.

[]<><><>[]

 Heavy rain continues to wreak havoc in North India. The southwest-monsoon has been vigorous over Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.      

 In Uttarakhand, the death toll due to flashfloods in the river Ganga and its tributaries, triggered by incessant rain, has risen to 37, with 34 people injured and over 160 buildings damaged. Rudraprayag bore the brunt of the disaster, accounting for 20 casualties.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has expressed grief at the loss of lives in the calamity.

A large extent of damage has occurred in Kedarghati, Rambara, Kedarnath and Uttarkashi. So, Cabinet has decided to immediately release money to every District Magistrate. They have been told that they have free hand to make any decision but they should provide relief to the people. The situation is being reviewed every six hours.

The Minister said, the Chardham and Mansarovar pilgrimages, suspended following torrential rains, would resume as soon as the weather improves. A report

Intermittent rain is still continuing in some hilly areas, whereas signs of improvement in weather condition are reported from Garhwal and Kumaun regions. More than hundreds of houses are reported to be washed away. While one post of ITBP at Goti swept away by heavy rainfall. Jal-Jiwi bridge which connect Nepal to India has also been washed away. Looking at the inclement weather, the pilgrims of Kailash Mansarovar yatra have been stopped at Bundi at Pithoragarh district. Jawans of Indian army, ITBP, BRO are carrying out relief and rescue operation along with officials of district administration. Thousands of pilgrims of Chardham and Hemkund Saheb are still stranded and being shifted to safer places. Sanjeev Sundriyal, AIR News, Dehradun.

In Haryana, flood control measures have been intensified especially in flood prone districts. More from our correspondent.

Due to heavy rain in Haryana, eight lakh six thousand cusecs of water past from Hathinikunj barrage in Yamuna river. As per Irrigation Department, this is the highest water level ever recorded. The sudden rise of water level in Yamuna has flooded many villages in Yamunanagar and Karnal along the banks of Yamuna. The hundred acres of crops have been damaged in flood. People got stranded at various places and district administration with the help of Army, Indian Air force and National Disaster Response Force rescued around 277 people from various places in Yamuna Nagar and Karnal districts. The administration has intensified flood control measures. Ashwani Kumar Sharma, AIR News, Chandiagarh.

The Delhi Government yesterday reviewed the preparation of flood control and the present situation, at a high level meeting. During the meeting, Delhi Chief Secretary DM Spolia asked the Revenue Department to evacuate the families from Yamuna River bank localities and set up tents and camps.

<><><>

The government has extended the facility of e-filing of RTI applications to the President and Vice-President's secretariat, and Foreign Ministry among others to ensure greater transparency in governance. The Department of Personnel and Training, DoPT, which acts as a nodal ministry for the implementation of the Right to Information Act, has launched a website -www.rtionline.gov.in  to facilitate e-filing of applications and payment of fees.

Citizens will also be able to seek information online from the Ministries of Food Processing Industries, Health and Family Welfare, Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting and Road Transport and Highways by exercising their Right to Information.

<><><>

All India Radio, Chennai is celebrating its platinum Jubilee today. A fore-runner and a pioneer of Indian Broadcasting, All India Radio Chennai has been a champion in winning the hearts of crores of people with its DTH services.

Rajagopalachari, popularly known as Rajaji, a freedom fighter, was always eager to deliver messages and speeches on Radio. He was thrilled to inaugurate AIR Chennai.

I am Rajagopalachari and I am speaking from Madras, All India Radio broadcasting station. I have been given the honour of inaugurating this Hindustan Akashwani in Madras. May your receiving station be always in good order and serve you well. Behind that receiving station is the soul which is serve well or ill as you are good or bad.

When Queen Elizabeth-II made a series of visits to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, she gave a farewell message at Delhi before her ceremonial exit on 1st March, 1961.

No one can fail to recognize that this country is dedicated to bringing about, within a democratic framework, a better, richer and happier life for every citizen.

<><><>

US President Barack Obama and the Russian President Vladimir Putin have acknowledged at the G-8 meeting in Northern Ireland that they have a common desire to end the violence in Syria. Putin and Obama met for about two hours at the sidelines of the summit. Putin said, their positions do not fully coincide, but are united by the common intention to end the violence in Syria, and resolve the problems by peaceful means.

Earlier, the G8 nations discussed the global economy with the leaders agreeing that world prospects remained weak.

<><><>

Sri Lanka knocked out defending champions Australia, after winning the final ICC Champions Trophy Group match by 20 runs at the Oval in London yesterday. Put into bat, Sri Lanka scored 253 for 8 in their allotted 50 overs.

Chasing 254 for victory, Australia were bundled out for 233 in 42.3 overs. With this victory, Sri Lanka has become the second team from Group-A, after England, to book a semi-final berth. India and South Africa were the two teams from Group-B, which had qualified to the knock-out stage.

[]<><><>[]

NEWSPAPER HEADLINES

The monsoon rain unleashing havoc across North India and the latest Cabinet reshuffle are 2 lead stories in most papers.

 Reacting to the Cabinet reshuffle, the Mail today opines Young India's Grey leaders 'Rahul's young brigade gets the short shrift in Monday's reshuffle as average age of new cabinet ministers crosses 73 years'.

The Asian Age reports that in view of the tourist potential in Agra, the Akhilesh Yadav government has approved the construction of an international airport in Agra. The proposal already has the approval of the Central Government.

 "China logs on to fastest super Computer", says the Hindu. The paper writes that the development of this Chinese super computer, reported to be the fastest in the world will have far reaching ramifications in the cyber world and is sure to break the US monopoly in the in the field of Strategic technology.

 The Times of India writes that the prices of 652 formulations, including widely used medicines like painkillers, anti-infective, antibiotics, anticancer and cardiovascular drugs are slated to come down by up to 50 per cent by July end. The drug Pricing regulator, NPPA has issued a notification to this effect.

 CBSE has decided to stop publishing the popular sample papers for classes XI and XII from next year. The Times of India quotes the CBSE Chairmen Vineet Joshi as saying that students are increasingly getting selective in their studies and the sample papers seem to have been contributing to this.

And finally, 'Grandpa's rescue act saves 14 newborns from Safdarjung fire', writes the Hindustan Times. The Paper says that the 60 year old grandfather who works as daily wage laborer in Darbhnaga, Bihar and refused to be identified showed great alertness to prevent tragedy at Safdarjang hospital in the small hours of Monday morning.